A series of footage of atomic weapon effects tests conducted by the Peoples Republic of China.

Chorioretinal Effects Test

Date: 10:50 UTC 01/08/1958 Type: Airburst @76800m Yield: 3.8 Mt

Animal testing conducted during the high yield high altitude testing during Operation Hardtack I in
1958. Research was required to obtain data on flash blindness and chorioretinal burns recieved as a
result of optical exposure to the initial pulse of nuclear weapons.

Flash Blindness Test

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

Flash blindness studies were conducted during the Baker shot of Operation Buster-Jangle. Seventeen
volunteers from the Kirtland AFB viewed the detonation through a variety of different lenses and
goggles. The balst was observed 14 kilometers south of ground zero from a C-54 Skymaster. Immediately after observing the flash, the volunteers performed a variety of tasks using special instrumentation to measure the effects on thier vision.

Priscilla pigs

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

Animal testing conducted during shot Priscilla of operation Plumbbob in 1957. The device used was a Mk-15 boosted primary with a yield of 40 kt.

Components Tests

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

Excerpt from a U.S. Airforce training film designed to allay fears of an accidental nuclear detonation, in the event of an aircraft carrying a nuclear weapon crashing.

Buster Effects

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

During Operation Buster Jangle, extensive testing was done on both materials and live animals.
Pine needles, leaves and grass were positioned at along the blast line to measure the effects of a
nuclear detonation. Anethesized dogs and rats were exposed to determine the effects of the
thermal pulse on unprotected skin.

Redwing Effects 1

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

Animal testing done during Operation Redwing in 1956. Monkies and rabbits are restrained and exposed to varying degrees of flash to measure chorioretinal burns.

Redwing Effects 2

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

A compilation of footage showing blast and thermal pulse effects on on generic structures during Operation Redwing in 1956.

Effects compilation 1

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

A compilation of footage showing blast and thermal pulse effects on vehicles, structures
and even the hardened cameras that were used to capture the events. This clip also shows
images using rapatronic cameras which are able to capture the intitial explosion, an event
lasting as little as 10 nanoseconds. The cameras only capture one image each with
exposures lasting around 3 millionths of a second, so multiple cameras were needed to
capture moving sequences.

Effects compilation 2

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

No additional data

Effects compilation 3

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

No additional data

Effects compilation 4

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

No additional data

USSR Effects Test

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

A series of footage of atomic weapon effects tests conducted by the USSR.

Project Dugout

Date: 04/1965 Type: Subsurface @-13.7m Yield: Yield: 20t (x5)

Project Dogout was a non-nuclear underground explosive test series in 1965, consisting of the simultaneous detonation of
five chemical charges. The primary purpose of the project was to increase the knowledge of row cratering dimensions in
hard, dry rock. Conducted by the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station Corps of Engineers. It was intended to
contribute to preparations for "Project Buggy, the first nuclear row-charge experiment in the Plowshare Program. Each
charge consisted of 18,150 kilos of the liquid explosive nitromethane (CH3NO2), contained in mined 3 meter spherical
cavities at a depth of 18 meters, spaced at 13.7 meter intervals. A mortor known as shotcrete, and a rubber compound were
applied to the interior of the cavity to make them impermiable.

Test footage from the the Dice Throw event in 1977. A series of high explosive tests at the White Sands Missile Range designed to simulate seismic, airblast and cratering effects.

Blowdown

Date: 18/07/1963Type: Hig-Ex, Tower @43mYield: 0.05Kt

Operation Blowdown was a joint UK-US-Australian operation at Iron Range in northern
Queensland,
Australia. The test was conducted to simulate the effects of a small nuclear detonation
over a rainforest. It involved the detonation of 50 tons of TNT atop a 43 meter tower. The
explosion turned the surrounding forest into a twisted knot making troop movements almost
impossible.

100 Ton test

Date: 07/05/1945 Type: Tower Yield: 0.1 Kt

In preparation for the Trinity shot, the "100 Ton Test" was fired on the 7th of May 1945.
This involved detonating 108 tons of TNT stacked on a wooden platform near the Trinity
ground zero. This was the largest instrumented explosion conducted up to this date. The test
allowed the intsrumentation to be calibrated and to give some indication of what they they should
expect from the main detonation. The stack of explosives was also laced with radioactive material to
give and idea how fissile products from the main blast might be distributed.

Charlie - |Sailor Hat|

Date: 16/04/1965Type: Surface/non-nuclearYield: 0.5Kt

Operation "Sailor Hat" was a series of conventional high explosive tests conducted at
Kahoolawe island Hawaii, in 1965 by the US Navy. The purpose of these three tests was to study the
effects of shock and blast on warships built to contemporary design standards. Each of the
"Sailor Hat" tests used a 500-ton charge of high explosive, stacked in a hemispheric form on
Kahoolawe's shore. This clip is of the second shot codenamed Charlie.
Alternate View

Soviet 1000 Ton Test

Date: 12/10/1960Type: Non-nuclearYield: 1 Kt

Footage of a Soviet test designed to simulate the effects of a low yield nuclear weapon using 1000 tons of conventional high explosive.

Soviet Explosive Test

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a Mt

Footage of an unidentifed Soviet high explosive test designed to simulate the effects of a low yield nuclear weapon.

Drone Aircraft Effects

Date: 15/04/1955Type: Towershot @121m Yield: 22Kt

Testing during the MET shot of Operation Teapot of destructive loads on aircraft in flight, to determine the structural responses and progression of damage to aircraft structures when subjected to the forces produced by a nuclear detonation. Three QF-80K radio-controlled drone aircraft were flown
independently in a left-hand holding pattern at three different altitudes and positions to the blast. Because of the potential hazard presented by the use of aircraft, the number of observers was restricted. The lowest of the three aircraft was severely damaged and was lost.

Castle Thermal Effects

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

Test footage showing the effects of the thermal pulse from a high yield nuclear weapon on
palm trees during Operation Castle in 1954

Plane Damage

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

Test footage showing the effects of blast and thermal pulse from a nuclear weapon on
planes and related structures during Operation Upshot-Knothole.

X-Ray

Date: 16:33 UTC 10/07/1962 Type: Airdrop @1500m Yield: 1Mt

Shows a weapon test filmed using specialist x-ray sensitive film developed specifically
for test analysis. The actual shot was Sunset from operation
Dominic.

Mach "Y" Stem

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

This clip demonstrates diagrammatically the phenomena known as the Mach “Y” Stem, where
the incident and the reflected shockwaves combine to form a magnified shock front. When
the correct ratio of altitude and yield are realised, this effect can dramatically
increase the destructive force of an airburst nuclear weapon.
An alternate clip showing the same effect generated by conventional explosives.

Precursor Wave

Date: n/a Type: n/a Yield: n/a

This clip demonstrates the phenomena known as the precursor wave, where the initial
thermal pulse raises a dust layer close to the ground. This can cause a modification of
the blast wave with the formation of an auxiliary or “precursor” wave that precedes the
incident shock front.